Singapore tells TikTok, Meta to block accounts of Australian fanning racial tension

Former Singaporean citizen Zulfikar bin Mohamad Shariff “called on Muslims to reject the constitutional, secular, democratic state in favour of an Islamic state governed by sharia law”, said the ministry in a press release.

“He believed that violence should be used to achieve this goal if necessary.”

Zulfikar was detained in 2016 under Singapore’s Internal Security Act for promoting terrorism and the online glorification of Islamic State group.

The law allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial, or to be given a restriction order limiting travel and internet access, among other conditions.

Authorities said Zulfikar “repeatedly continued to stir up discontent within the local Malay/Muslim community against the Chinese community in Singapore”.